The recent events of 2020 as relates to racism, police brutality, and protests have had a profound effect on the world, our nation, the future of education, and on all of us. 

In case you haven’t heard us say it yet, 

Black Lives Matter.

If you haven’t already done so, you can read our blogs with some of our thoughts on these recent events here:  Shelley’s blog  Dave’s blog.

We also wanted to tell you that while we are on a personal journey of learning and growth, we have been and will continue to work to improve the practices of DBC.  Equity, social justice, and anti-racism are all issues we feel very strongly about at our core, and we want to ensure the work we do at DBC reflects those values.

We are thankful to our Director of Culture and Community, Marisol Rerucha, for taking the lead role for DBC Inc. on this ongoing journey. Since last June, she has been an invaluable addition to our team and has strengthened our book review process and provided powerful insight and support to our authors. 

Our team has been working on ways to engage the community in meaningful conversations. In April, we committed to hosting a DBC author study group to read and discuss articles and books centered on racism, equity, and social justice. We hope that this study group will provide a space where we can learn together and move forward into action.

In addition to the “Authors Only” study group, Marisol is also facilitating our “Learn With DBC” book study which is currently reading Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain by Zaretta Hammond. We decided to open this group up to our wider professional learning network, and not limit it just to our authors. You can read more about the book study and how to participate in the eNews below. 

We have several titles that are currently in editing, the finishing stages of writing, or development that we could not be more excited about that will directly address racism, equity, and social justice in education. We can’t wait to share them with you! 

As many of you know, our philanthropic efforts often center around support for work being done to lift up the LGBTQ+ community and to also bring awareness to the realities of mental illness. We are now expanding those efforts to support organizations who do work specifically to lift up our Black and Brown communities.  There are many, many organizations where you can give both your time and your money to fight for racial justice. The two that Dave and I have chosen to partner with are the Youth Empowerment organization in our local San Diego Community and  the Equal Justice Initiative.  We invite you to join us in supporting the extraordinary work these two organizations are doing to fight for racial justice and to help repair some of the extraordinary harm that systemic racism has caused.

We wish you all the very best and hope you have a summer that restores your body and spirit in meaningful ways. Enjoy the rest of the eNews below!!

-Dave & Shelley

Tara Martin will be hosting our  Facebook Live Series for from  In this series, the participants (authors and PLN friends) will share some Summer Learning as it pertains to their book or their current reading. We hope you will join us!

Journal Sale Extended

Our Journal Like a PIRATE books are on sale for $10.00 each (with a purchase of 5 or more). That is a steal; they are regularly priced at $24.95!

Podcast: Brené Brown with Ibram X. Kendi on How to Be an Antiracist

"In this episode, Brene Brown visits with professor Ibram X. Kendi, New York Times bestselling author of How to Be an Antiracist and the Director of the Antiracist Research and Policy Center at American University.